Page 1 – Honorable Richard P. Mills

June 6, 2008

Honorable Richard P. Mills

Commissioner of Education

New York State Education Department

111 Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, New York12234

Dear Commissioner Mills:

Thank you for the timely submission of New York’s FFY 2006 Annual Performance Report (APR) and revised State Performance Plan (SPP) under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended in 2004. We also acknowledge the revisions to New York’s APR received on April 14, 2008. We appreciate the State’s efforts in preparing these documents.

The Department has determined that, under IDEA section 616(d), New York needs assistance in meeting the requirements of Part B of the IDEA. The Department’s determination is based on the totality of the State’s data and information including the State’s FFY 2006 APR and revised SPP, other State-reported data, and other publicly available information. See the enclosure entitled “How the Department Made Determinations under Section 616(d) of the IDEA in 2008” for further details.

Specific factors affecting OSEP’s determination of ‘needs assistance’ for New York were that the State: (1) did not provide valid and reliable FFY 2006 data for Indicators 1, 2, 9 and 10 (instead the State reported on prior year FFY 2005 data); (2) reported 64.2% compliance for Indicator 11 with progress from inaccurate data for FFY 2005 and did not report correction; (3) reported 73.8% compliance for Indicator 12 with slippage from 86.5% for FFY 2005 and did not report correction; (4) reported 45% compliance for Indicator 13, which represented progress from 33% compliance in FFY 2005 and did not report correction; (5) reported 91.41% compliance for Indicator 15 with progress from 83.7% FFY 2005 data; (6) reported 82% compliance for Indicator 16 (slippage from 95% for FFY 2005); (7) reported 79% compliance for Indicator 17 (slippage from 83% in FFY 2005); and (8) reported that noncompliance identified in FFY 2005 under Indicator 4a was partially corrected. For these reasons, we were unable to determine that New York met requirements under section 616(d). We hope that the State will be able to demonstrate that it meets requirements in its next APR.

The enclosed table provides OSEP’s analysis of the State’s FFY 2006 APR and revised SPP and identifies, by indicator, OSEP’s review of any revisions made by the State to its targets, improvement activities (timelines and resources) and baseline data in the State’s SPP. It also identifies, by indicator, the State’s status in meeting its targets, whether the State’s data reflect progress or slippage, and whether the State corrected noncompliance and provided valid and reliable data.

The State’s determination for the FFY 2005 APR also was needs assistance. In accordance with section 616(e) of the IDEA and 34 CFR §300.604, if a State is determined to need assistance for two consecutive years, the Secretary must take one or more of the following actions: 1) Advise the State of available sources of technical assistance that may help the State address the areas in which the State needs assistance; 2) Direct the use of State-level funds on the area or areas in which the State needs assistance; or 3) Identify the State as a high-risk grantee and impose special conditions on the State’s Part B grant award. Pursuant to these requirements, the Secretary is advising the State of available sources of technical assistance related to Indicator 1 (graduation rates), Indicator 2 (dropout rates), Indicator 4A (suspension and expulsion), Indicator 9, (disproportionate representation – child with a disability), Indicator 10 (disproportionate representation - specific disability categories), Indicator 11 (timely initial evaluations), Indicator 12 (early childhood transition), Indicator 13 (secondary transition), Indicator 15 (timely correction of noncompliance), Indicator 16 (complaint timelines), and Indicator 17 (due process hearing timelines). A list of sources of technical assistance related to the SPP/APR indicators is available by clicking on the “Technical Assistance Related to Determinations” box on the opening page of the SPP/APR Planning Calendar website at You will be directed to a list of indicators. Click on specific indicators for a list of centers, documents, web seminars and other sources of relevant technical assistance for that indicator. For the indicators listed above, your State must report with its FFY 2007 APR submission (due February 1, 2009) on: 1) the technical assistance sources from which the State received assistance and 2) what actions the State took as a result of that technical assistance. The extent to which your State takes advantage of available technical assistance for these indicators may affect the actions we take under section 616 should your State not be identified as meets requirements next year. We encourage States to take advantage of available sources of technical assistance in other areas as well, particularly if the State is reporting low compliance data for an indicator.

As required by section 616(e)(7) and 34 CFR §300.606, the State must notify the public that the Secretary of Education has taken the above enforcement action. This notification must be sufficient to notify the public within the State and may include such mechanisms as posting on the agency’s website, distribution through the media and distribution through public agencies.

As you know, your State must report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency (LEA) located in the State on the targets in the SPP under IDEA section 616(b)(2)(C)(ii)(l). In addition, your State must review LEA performance against targets in the State’s SPP, determine if each LEA meets the requirements of the IDEA and inform each LEA of its determination. For further information regarding these requirements, see the SPP/APR Calendar at Finally, if you included revisions to baseline, targets or improvement activities in your APR submission, and OSEP accepted those revisions, please ensure that you update your SPP accordingly and that the updated SPP is made available to the public.

OSEP is committed to supporting New York’s efforts to improve results for children with disabilities and looks forward to working with your State over the next year. If you have any questions, would like to discuss this further, or want to request technical assistance, please do not hesitate to call Michael F. Slade, your OSEP State Contact, at 202-245-7527.

Sincerely,

/s/ William W. Knudsen

William W. Knudsen

Acting Director

Office of Special Education Programs

Enclosures

cc:State Director of Special Education